In November 2024, the City of West Hollywood initiated a comprehensive engagement process to invite the community to weigh in on the planning for a West Hollywood Art Project to take place during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Through this process, the city engaged with over 400 community members, artists, arts organizations, and cultural venues. Pickle, West Hollywood Drag Laureate, Jen Cheng, West Hollywood Poet Laureate, and Odius Ari, fostered connection through in-person sessions.

The Art Project will position West Hollywood as a cultural hub during the Olympic Games, showcasing the city's creative identity through innovative arts programming. The Art Project will take the form of a series of immersive experiences, events and installations connected to a central thematic framework. The collection of interconnected initiatives is all contributing to a larger cultural experience.

On April 24, 2025, the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission considered the draft implementation plan and recommended City Council approval. The plan will be presented to City Council on June 23, 2025.

The plan includes a defined theme – Inventing Traditions – a dynamic curatorial exploration of how communities create, redefine, and sustain cultural rituals over time. This theme reflects on how the act of invention can forge new cultural identities, preserve marginalized voices, and challenge the boundaries between heritage and contemporary expression. It honors the Olympic spirit by inviting artists to investigate how the creative process can give rise to practices, symbols, and expressions that not only define a moment but shape the future. And, it examines the paradox of tradition: while traditions are often perceived as inherited and immutable, they are in fact continually reimagined and negotiated in response to societal change. The theme serves as both a reflection and provocation for artists to consider how global events – rooted in historical customs – can inspire new ways of understanding identity, community, and cultural legacy.

Tent pole initiatives will include:

Olympic Arts Grants to support ambitious arts projects across disciplines that align with the thematic framework to be presented between March 2028 - September 2028.

A Temporary Public Art Corridor through West Hollywood on historic Route 66 and direction to collaborate with neighboring municipalities.

Digital Billboard Exhibitions featuring remarkable moving image artworks on the Sunset Strip.

Three (3) projects with Lasting Impact at the Aquatic and Recreation Center, including a permanent artwork installation, a new large-scale mural, and indoor temporary art exhibitions.

Additional programming will include:

Five (5) Temporary Art Activations leading up to 2028 to build excitement in the community, provide hands-on creative activities, workshops, artist-led experiences, and serve as an opportunity to test ideas for community gathering spaces.

A thematic exhibition at the West Hollywood Library exploring the theme and LGBTQ+ athletes.

An Olympic Poem written by West Hollywood City Poet Laureate.

Citywide Immersion: Community-driven projects fostering participation and interaction interwoven into the Arts Division’s existing programs and non-commissioned partnerships with business designed to create a pervasive cultural atmosphere where residents and visitors encounter art in unexpected ways throughout the city.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The City, with the AEA Consultants Laura Zucker and Bella Stenvall, designed a comprehensive community engagement process to ensure broad participation among key groups from diverse backgrounds. Through interactive sessions that took place between November 2024 through February 2025, the city spoke with the community and inquired feedback on questions such as:

How will we honor the Olympic while showcasing West Hollywood’s rich diversity and creative talent

What is a meaningful tradition in West Hollywood?

What is a new tradition you would want to invent for yourself or the community?

Where do you see opportunities in West Hollywood for new arts and cultural traditions? How could these augment existing programs, events, and gatherings?

What values should these new traditions embody?

In addition to engagement in West Hollywood, City staff and the consulting team meet regularly with municipal arts leaders in the region and state organizations to discuss collaboration opportunities and share updates.

SCHEDULE

In-person Community Conversations

11/11/24 at the Helen Albert Certified Farmers' Market (Plummer Park) with Pickle, Drag Laureate

11/18/24 at the Helen Albert Certified Farmers' Market (Plummer Park)

11/21/24 West Hollywood Day event (Pacific Design Center) with Jen Cheng, City Poet Laureate

1/24/25 Creative Community Outreach sessions at 10am and 2pm (West Hollywood Library Community Meeting Room, 625 N San Vicente Boulevard)

1/25/25 Winter Wonderland event, 1-4pm (West Hollywood Park) with Odius Ari

1/26/25 On the street interviews with Pickle, Drag Laureate, 10am-2pm (Restaurants on Santa Monica Boulevard)

Virtual Community Conversation

1/28/25 6pm (zoom), video below

The City is working with AEA Consulting to establish a plan (purpose, goals, and vision) for the West Hollywood Art Project during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. A series of community engagement sessions will take place November 2024 through February 2025.

The Art Project could take the form of an arts and cultural event, experience, and/or activity. By engaging in a visioning exercise, the city will have time to develop ideas and perspectives for an experience that will spark dialogue, ignite imaginations, and leave a lasting impression on all who attend.

For updates and information related to the City of West Hollywood’s preparations for the Games visit weho.org/OLYMPICS.

INVENTING TRADITIONS

On October 25, 2024, the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission received a presentation from AEA Consulting and approved a theme of “Inventing Traditions” to inform the Art Project. This theme serves the City in the following ways:

• Builds on the Olympic spirit, a tradition itself reinvented over time, and the Los Angeles region’s Olympic arts legacy, from the 1932 Cultural Olympiad to the transformative 1984 Olympic Arts Festival, and reflects West Hollywood’s evolution as a global leader in art and culture.
• Enables West Hollywood to collaborate within the larger framework of LA28 while honoring its unique identity as a creative center.
• Offers endless possibilities for interdisciplinary artists, organizations, culinary, design, and fashion talents to contribute to a shared artistic vision and collectively define new, sustainable traditions that celebrate the City’s values and progressive spirit, ensuring a lasting cultural impact that extends well beyond the Olympic Games.

HISTORY OF THE CULTURAL OLYMPIAD

The Cultural Olympiad is a series of artistic and cultural events organized in the lead-up to and during the Olympic Games, highlighting the intersection of art, culture, and sport. Rooted in the vision of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, it integrates performances, exhibitions, and workshops to celebrate creativity alongside athletic achievements. These events serve as a platform to showcase the cultural heritage of the host country while promoting global cultural exchange and dialogue. Over time, the Cultural Olympiad has evolved to include interdisciplinary works, fostering innovation in art and education tied to Olympic values. Programs often span multiple art forms, including music, dance, visual arts, and interactive exhibitions, aiming to leave a lasting cultural legacy alongside the sporting achievements of the Games